Life Line
by some1lostme
Summary: House has been in courtordered rehab for a little over a week and you can't help but wonder how he is. A little AU but its better than it sounds.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Life Line (1/3)

**Rating:** PG

**Summary: **_House has been in court-ordered rehab for a little over a week and you can't help but wonder how he is_. A little AU but it's better than it sounds.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own em.

**Spoilers: **Up to "Finding Judas"

House has been in court-ordered rehab for a little over a week and you can't help but wonder how he is. You know that it's a stupid thing to wonder, you know he's miserable, but you can't help yourself. How was right, you are pathetic.

It has been oddly uneventful in the office without him and you hate it. It kills you to be there alone with the two of them. Chase has officially become the laziest person you've ever met. While you help out in the clinic and Foreman spends his time in Neurology, Chase sits in the office doing crosswords. Not that you're exactly thrilled with Foreman's attitude at the moment. He's taken up his 'I told you so' stance and every time the two of you happen to be in the same room at the same time, he brings up House and your interest in him. He's lucky you haven't resorted to kicking him in the testicles.

Wilson, on the other hand, is avoiding you like the plague. You don't blame him. You aren't really in the mood for confrontation and even though you can't blame him for House's current position, you know you'd take your anger and frustration out on him. Even though you know Wilson chose to rat House out to Tritter, you think you would've done the same thing if you'd been in his position. You know how humiliating it was for him to have to have you and Chase and Foreman writing his prescriptions and you know he felt that House was abusing their friendship. You understand his actions but you still don't agree with them.

The television is on in your apartment and you are sprawled out on you couch. You can't sleep because your brain is running in overdrive. There is an old episode of The O.C. on and that is what drew your mind back to House. You were never a big fan of this show but you caved one day and bought the first season on DVD. You're hooked. You aren't really watching the episode that's on now (you've seen it before) and you jump when your cell phone rings. When you pick it up, you don't recognize the number on the caller ID but you answer it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Cameron?"

"Yes?"

You do not recognize the voice of the woman on the other end of the line and you are immediately worried that someone has been hurt.

"My name is Emily Pierce. I'm calling from the Grossman Clinic in Tre-" _House. _"-nton, New Jersey. I have a patient here claiming to be your husband. Gregory House? He's demanding to speak to you. Is he-"

"Doctor," you say without thought, "Doctor House. Yes, he's my husband. Is he alright?"

"He's fine, ma'am. I'll let you speak to him."

Your throat is tight as you wait for House's voice to come over the phone. You think that something must be wrong because House wouldn't call you if there wasn't. He never called you unless it was work related.

"Allison?" His voice cracks and there are suddenly tears in your eyes. He's never called you by your first name before and even though you told the nurse you were his wife, it still surprises you. You aren't normally so emotional, but the tension from the past week is finally peaking and you think that this conversation is going to make you sob.

"How are you?" You ask, wanting to take the words back the second they roll off your tongue.

He laughs hoarsely and you can picture him sitting alone in a small room shaking and covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Peachy, detoxing is such a joy. You know how it is, the shaking, the vomiting. It's college all over again.

You smile to yourself because he is trying very hard to snark at you through the pain. You have tears running down your cheeks and you roll your eyes at yourself. You're glad that he isn't here to see you like this.

"I'm sorry," you say, "It was a stupid question."

For a few moments neither of you speak and you can hear him breathing on the other end. You can practically hear the pain. You want to ask why he called, you're going to actually, but you aren't sure what he'll say. You take a breath.

"House," you hesitate, "Why did you call? I mean, why did you call me?"  
It takes him a minute to answer but you aren't rushing him.

"I couldn't call Wilson," he says slowly, "And you're the only other person worth talking to."

Wow. You weren't expecting that. You were expecting him to either dodge the question all together or just say something rude and tell you not to get you hopes up. But you understand why he's being honest. He's detoxing and his leg is probably not making the situation any better, he's going to be a little off his game.

"Oh," you say, not sure if anything else would make him uncomfortable, "Okay. Well, you'll be happy to know that work has been pretty lousy."

He snorts, "Of course it has, I'm not there."

You can't help the smile that creeps onto your face and then you tell him about your week, just to keep him on the phone. You tell him about your clinic patients but only the interesting ones. You tell him about Chase and the absurdity of his sudden laziness. You think this gives him something to look forward to when he comes back in two months, something to give Chase hell for. You don't talk much about Foreman because the last thing you want to do is bring up the remains of your awkward relationship. You also manage to avoid talking about Wilson mainly because you know that they haven't spoken to each other in a while.

You are happy to listen as his vents about rehab. He hates it and you knew that he would. He tells you about the group therapy he is forced to sit through every day. He describes some of the other patients and he tries to break them down, tries to convince you, and himself, that he isn't just another addict. Some of his stories have you laughing harder than you have in ages and some of his stories have you chocking on the sob stuck in your throat. He tells you about the pain in his leg, how they only give him aspirin and the fact that he doesn't sleep anymore. You understand that his insomnia is the real reason he called. You suggest a few things, asking him is he can listen to music or read books and he says that he can, they just don't have anything good. Before you can stop yourself, you promise to send him his iPod and a few new medical journals that are lying around the office. It is only when you catch yourself yawn that you realize you have to be at work in six hours.

"You need to sleep," he tells you, well aware that you are exhausted.

"It's okay," you tell him, "I can catch a nap at work tomorrow. My boss is out of town, he'll never know."

You know he is smiling.

"Goodnight, House," you say and you are surprised at how soft your voice suddenly is.

"Cameron," he says just as you are hanging up,"Thanks."

You can't help smiling even though there are tears in your eyes again, "You're welcome."

You finally drag yourself into bed and you think of his as you fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Life Line (2/3)

**Rating:** PG

**Summary: ** You have called Cameron almost everyday since entering rehab. A semi-future fic about what would happen if House ends up in rehab.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own em.

**Spoilers: ** Up to "Finding Judas"

You have called Cameron almost everyday since entering rehab. Sometimes your conversations are short and awkward and other times you talk to her like she's all you have left. Twenty-nine conversations have taken place between the two of you and you know more about her now than you'd ever thought you wanted to know. She knows a lot about you now as well and you hadn't really meant to tell her so much. She's easy to talk to and you know you are falling in love with her, even though you don't want to admit it.

Right now you are sitting alone in your room, the phone pressed to your ear, as she tells you about their current patient. She is going on and on about the patient's (you can't remember his name) symptoms but you aren't really listening. You've grown to enjoy the sound of her voice and lately, it hasn't really mattered what she was saying.

The worst stages of your detox have passed. You are personally glad that the physical pain has passed, you have plenty of that to go around. You have been clean and sober for five weeks now and you're sort of proud of yourself. You are also more than surprised at how seldom Cameron brings up where you are or why you're there. You know that she isn't denying the fact that you're in rehab but you're glad that she isn't throwing it in your face either. She listens when you talk about your doctors and their methods of healing and every now and then she'll comment on something she doesn't agree with. But other than that, the subject is never brought up. Instead you usually talk about your past or your future because she is curious and wants to know you better. You are surprised at how easy it is to tell her.

"House?" You almost forgot that the two of you were supposed to be having a conversation.

"Sorry," you say, "I was ignoring you."

You know that it is a lame excuse but you also know that Cameron won't mind. _She likes lame._ You can almost hear her roll her eyes and you and for the first time in your life you wish you were there to see it.

"What were you thinking about?" she asks.

It's your turn to roll your eyes because you forget that she knows you now and that she isn't afraid to ask the questions you are afraid to answer.

"The hot nurse that brings me my pills," You tell her, trying to be snarky. It comes across with much less enthusiasm that usual.

She scoffs, "Sure."

She doesn't say anything else for a long minute and you know that she's wondering if you were being serious. If you hadn't been in rehab, if you'd say that to her in the hospital, you probably would have been serious. Now, however, you were lying because right now lying is easier than telling the truth.

"How did you meet your husband?" you ask her before you have time to process the thought. You'd really just wanted to get her mind off of your comment.

"In college," she says softly and without hesitation. Her quick response surprises you again (she's been doing that a lot lately).

You don't respond because you honestly hadn't thought that far ahead and you definitely hadn't expected her to answer you so easily.

She surprises you again when she asks, "How did you meet Stacey?"

For a moment you hesitate (but only for a moment) because you aren't sure you want to bring that up. It's been a long time since you've let your mind go back to Stacey. You've spent most of your time in rehab focusing on getting your life back, on making your life better. The last thing you want to think about is Stacey and your fucking leg because Cameron is really good at making you forget.

"In a bar," you tell her, "She was on a date with Wilson."

At this she laughs (loud and hard) and you are struggling to hold back your own laughter. She has nothing to say for a long time because she is too busy laughing. Apparently she finds your answer incredibly funny and you just sit back and listen to her laugh (it's been a long time).

When she's finally gained some control, she asks, "Where they serious?"

"No," you tell her, because they really weren't, "They barely knew each other. It was a blind date or something. But I came in and completely ruined it for Wilson. I guess it didn't work out so well for me either, did it?"

"No," she says quietly, "I guess not."

She suddenly has nothing to say and you know that she's wishing that she hadn't brought it up. You aren't sure what to tell her to make her understand that Stacey isn't the one you're constantly thinking about. You certainly don't have the balls to tell her that you're falling in love with her, but you can't even tell her that she has nothing to worry about.

"Well," she says suddenly, "I should go. I'm working tomorrow and I've been late for work twice this week. We can't keep having these late night conversations."

You smile because you know damn well that she enjoys talking to you as much as you enjoy talking to her.

"Right," you say, "I'll try to call earlier. How's 6 work for you? I think I can pencil you in."

You can hear her smiling again, "Goodnight, House."

"Night, Cameron," you say, "Tomorrow?"

"Of course."

The dial tone rings in your ear.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Life Line (3/3)

**Rating:** PG

**Summary: ** House is being released from rehab today and you can't contain your excitement. A semi-future fic about what would happen if House ends up in rehab.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own em.

**Spoilers: ** Up to "Finding Judas"

**A/N: **Okay, this is it folks. I'd just like to thank everyone who read and reviewed, I really appreciate it. Also, the end of this is definitely OOC, but I couldn't help myself, I'm a sap. Enjoy!

**Cameron**

House is being released from rehab today and you can't contain your excitement. It's been two months since you've seen his face and less than twelve hours since you last heard his voice. You can't wait to put the two of them together again.

Foreman and Chase are ignoring your odd mood. Neither of them mentions House unless you are working on a particularly difficult case. They don't know about the phone calls and you're pretty sure that neither of them remembers he is being released today.

Both Wilson and Cuddy know of course and they've both managed to bring it up. Wilson asked you if you knew whether or not House had a ride home and you just nodded. He did but you didn't feel the need to mention that you were the one who'd be picking him up. Cuddy brought it up when you bumped into her in the clinic. She casually asked you if you know what today is. Thursday is what you tell her and at her annoyed expression, you turn and walk away. You had to bite your tongue to keep from spilling your guts. You haven't told anyone about the phone calls.

You promised him you'd be there at noon on the spot. He is more than ready to leave that place and you wouldn't dare make him stay any longer than absolutely necessary. You finish your clinic duty at 11:15 and head up to the Diagnostics office for your purse and jacket. You manage to slip into your jacket before Chase gives you a questioning look. You simply tell him that you're taking an early lunch. You don't catch the look he gives you because you are already on your way out the door.

**House**

You had trouble sleeping last night because you anxiety has been building for days. You are being released in exactly thirty-six minutes and you know that Cameron will be waiting for you. You still haven't worked up the nerve to tell her how you feel but you came pretty damn close during your last conversation. Her sappiness is getting to you already.

You have already signed your discharge papers and the only thing you're waiting for is your _wife_. You never did correct the nurse and every time Cameron calls you, you have to take a deep breath and ignore the announcement that your wife is calling. Rehab or not, you are still not the marrying type. You know that you're in love with Cameron, and you really wouldn't mind becoming involved with her, but marriage will never be on your agenda.

You are surprised when the nurse comes to your room at quarter of twelve to tell you that your wife is waiting in the lobby. It's time to go home.

**Cameron**

You are standing in the lobby of the Grossman clinic and your heart is beating so hard in your chest that you're afraid it may stop. The nurse just went to find House and she called him your husband and you forgot about the roll you're supposed to be playing. Your hands are shaking and you don't know if you're nervous about seeing him or if you're just nervous for him, rehab is a big deal.

You don't have much time to dwell on it because the nurse is coming back down the hallway. You see House and you can't help the grin that has suddenly found its way to your face. He hasn't seemed to notice you yet, he's fumbling with his bag, and you want to call out to him. You don't. You stand and wait and pray that he's all right. You want him to be okay.

And then he looks at you and you take four long strides and you're right in front of him. You take his bag, drop it on the floor, and wrap your arms around his neck. It takes him all of ten seconds to respond and then you're kissing him and he's kissing you back and nothing else seems to matter. The kiss lingers and when you both break for air you are feeling a little light headed. House is staring at you and you are amazed to find that there are no questions in his eyes.

"Hi," you say, out of breath but in a very good way.

His lip quirks up and he says, "I love you."

You know that you looked shocked because you are but at the same time, you're not. You've been in love with him for so long that nothing can shock you anymore. You smile and kiss him again, breaking away only to repeat the words back at him.


End file.
